There’s a sound all South Bay wrestlers have become familiar with over the past four decades. It’s not any weird gym buzzer or high-pitched referee’s whistle.

It’s the distinctive tone of the voice of longtime coach Jerry Matsumoto echoing around the wrestling room or barking out directions from the side of the mat.

After Matsumoto graduating from Castle Park in 1967, his voice first blared when he became a volunteer assistant at Marian Catholic in 1971. Since that time, he has coached for or against every wrestler in the South Bay, either on the high school or youth level.

His barbs sometimes find their way into the referee’s ears, but he was ejected only once.

“I was only thrown out back in those old days at Marian, and ironically it was Tim,” said Matsumoto of former Hilltop coach Tim Tyler, who was working as a special referee that day. “I started working with him in 1995.”

Tyler and Matsumoto combined to make Hilltop a perennial San Diego Section power. From 1995 through 2006, the Lancers won four section titles (1995, 1997, 1999 and 2006). They were runners-up in 1998 and 2000. From 1997 to 2000, Hilltop went on a 35-match league unbeaten streak.

“I ran practices in spring and the fall; I made it easy for Tim,” Matsumoto said.

After a three-year run as head coach at Otay Ranch, Matsumoto became an assistant for Scott Ullsperger at Mater Dei and now serves as an assistant coach at Eastlake.

The last move mirrors the growth of his youth team, the Chula Vista Badgers.

“This year the Badgers have almost 100 kids,” said Matsumoto, who founded the team with Del Vogal in 1993. “We outgrew Mater Dei, who really was awesome to us, but we had to move over here to Eastlake.”

Having just turned 64 on Wednesday, and having lost 30 percent of his lung capacity to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, his role has changed.

“I have more of an administrative role with the Badgers now,” he said. “I stopped getting on the mat in 2007.”

“Bryan (Scrambler) was the most technically skilled wrestler I’ve seen come out of the South Bay,” he said. “We invested a lot of time and money with him.”

Scrambler was a three-time section champion at Hilltop, graduating in 2004. He was twice the California Greco State Champion, a California Youth Freestyle champion, and a two-time high school state qualifier.

Matsumoto’s wrestling experience isn’t limited to just coaching. He has traveled the world officiating. Among the highlights include the Sunkist Open, one of the qualifiers used for making the U.S. Olympic team, and the Pan American Games.

In 1990 he was awarded the Mort Geller Award as International Style Official of the Year by the AAU.